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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s lacrosse team is ranked No. 1 in all four of the major preseason polls, entering the 2012 season. The USILA coaches and Nike/Inside Lacrosse media polls were released today. The Face-Off Yearbook and Lacrosse Magazine preseason polls were previously released this winter.

The USILA coaches and Nike/Inside Lacrosse media polls will conduct a weekly poll through the season.

Head coach Dom Starsia’s squad features 30 returning lettermen, including seven starters, from last year’s NCAA title team. The Cavaliers went 13-5 and became the lowest seed (No. 7) and first five-loss team to win the NCAA title. UVa has advanced to the national semifinals in four consecutive seasons, but 2011 was the first finals for the Cavaliers since taking home the hardware in 2006.

UVa opens its season on Feb. 18 at Drexel. Faceoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.

A composite grid of the preseason rankings is below. Virginia’s 2012 opponents are in bold.

Face-Off Year Book Nike/Inside Lacrosse USILA Lacrosse Magazine Avg. Rank
1. Virginia 1 1 1 1 1.00
2. Duke 2 2 3 2 2.25
3. Johns Hopkins
4 3 2 3 3.00
4. Cornell 3 4 3 4 3.50
5. Denver 5 5 5 5 5.00
6. North Carolina
6 6 6 6 6.00
7. Syracuse
7 7 8 8 7.50

Maryland 8 8 7 7 7.50
9. Notre Dame 9 9 9 9 9.00
10. Villanova 10 10 10 10 10.00
11. UMass
12 13 11 12 12.00
12. Hofstra 11 12 14 18 13.75
13. Bucknell 15 14 12 16 14.25
14. Harvard 19 15 13 11 14.50
15. Penn 14 16 15 15 15.00
16. Yale 13 17 18 17 16.25
17. Princeton 16 11 16 13 16.50
18. Penn State 20 18 17 14 17.25
19. Drexel 17 20 20 NR 19.50
20. Colgate 18 19 NR NR 19.75
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